Automatic grease-cup.



J. F. CRAVEN.

AUTOMATIC GREASE CUP.

APPLICATION FILIED MAY 17. I916.

1,22%,85 1 o Patented Apr. 1?, 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

WITNESSES [NVENTOR fif M 57PM J- F. CRAVEN.

AUTOMATIC GREASE CUP.

ARPLICATION FILED MAYH, 191s.

Patented Apr. 17,1917.

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INVENTOR '11 STATES PATENT @FKQE.

JAMES F. CRAVEN, ,OF PITTSBFTBGH, PENNSYLVANIA.

AUTOMATIC GREASE-CUP.

To all whom it mayconcem .1

Be it known thatl, JAMES F. CRAVEN,

a residentof Pittsburgh, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Automatic Grease-Cups, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to automatic grease cups, such as are used for feeding grease into bearings. The object of the invention is to provide a grease cup which is of simple form and embodies a small number of parts and can be made at low cost and in compact form and small sizes, which can be readily filled When empty, which automatically feeds the grease to the hearing or other part to be lubricated, and which exerts a practically constant pressure upon the grease during the entire operation of emptying the cup.

Further objects of the invention are in part obvious and in part will appear more in detail hereinafter.

In the drawings, which represent several embodiments of the invention, Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view, showing the piston or follower retracted; Fig. 2 is a cross sectional view on the line 2-2, Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows; Fig. 8is a plan view of a locking washer; Fig. 4 is an edge view ofthe same; Fig. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view, corresponding to Fig.1, and showing another embodiment of the invention; Fig. 6 is a plan view of the piston or follower disassembled from its stem and the shell or casing; Fig. 7 is a cross sectional view on the line 7-7, Fig. 5, looking in the direction of the arrows; Fig. 8 is a sectional elevation of the cap or cover shown in Fig. 5; Fig. 9 is a plan view of the cap viewed from below in Fig. 8; Fig. 10 is a longitudinal sectional elevation, partly broken out, showing another embodiment of the invention; Fig. 11 is a cross section on the line 11-11, Fig. 10, looking in the direction of the arrows; Fig. 12 is a longitudinal sectional view, showing still another embodiment of the invention; and Fig. 13 is an outside elevation, on a smaller scale, of the device shown in Fig. 5.

Referring to the drawings, the grease cup illustrated comprises a shell or casing 1, having a central bore or cavity 2, shown as circular in cross section, and at one end provided with a threaded nipple or extension 3 for attachment to the part to be lubricated.

Specification of Letters Patent. Pa,fi3ntd Apr, 1'? 1911?, Application filed May 17, 1916.

Serial No. 98,026.

Said nipple is provided with a central aperture 4, through which the grease is discharged into the bearing, and which aperture may be round, as in Fig. .5, or non-circular, such as hexagonal, as shown in Fig. l, to enable a suitable tool to be inserted therein for screwing the nipple or-casing into the bearing. It also may be of increasing diameter toward the hearing, as shown in Figs. 10 and 12, which permits expansion of the grease, decreases the friction and produces amore ready flow without liability of choking the opening.

lVithin the chamber 2 of the casing is lo cated a piston or follower 5, shown in Fig. 1 as a cup-shaped memberhaving a suitable packing, such as a leather washer 6, secured to its inner face and whose edges engage the inner surface of the chamber for preventing leakage of the grease past the piston or follower. The piston or follower is rotatably mounted upon a cylindrical portion 7 of a member 8, which latter member is slidable longitudinally but does not rotate in the shell or casing 1. In Fig. 1 said member is shown as a stem headed over at its inner end, as at 9, to retain the piston thereon, and having a non-circular or square portion 10 sliding in a similarly shaped opening in the upper portion of the casing, beyond which it is provided with a head or button 10 Suitable means is provided for giving the piston or follower a rotary motion within the casing, said means being shown as a spirally coiled leaf spring 11, attached at one end, as at 12, to a portion of the shaft 10, and at its opposite end, as at 13, to the rim or wall of the piston or follower 5. Said spring is of such size and is so arranged as to nest neatly within the hollow cavity of the piston or follower.

When the stem 8 is pulled outwardly to the position shown in Fig. 1 the piston 5 is rotated backwardly so as to wind up the spring and place it under tension tending to rotate the piston or follower in the reverse direction and thereby simultaneously feed it longitudinally in the casing so as to force the grease through the opening 4. Suitable means is also provided for causing the power device, such as the spring 11, to produce the simultaneous rotary and longitudinal movements of the follower in the casing. This means, for example, may comprise spiral sliding interlocking connections between the follower and the lnner wall of the casing.

In Fig. 1 the inner wall of the casing is provided with one or more (two being shown) spiral ribs 14: which enter spiral grooves 15 in the peripheral surface of the follower. Consequently, with the parts in the position shown in Fig. 1, the tendency of the spring to rotate the piston or follower is exerted at one end against 'the non-rotatable stem 8 and at the other end against the spiral rib and groove, thereby causing the follower to rotate and simultaneously move longitudinally in the casing, thereby expelling the grease into the bearing. WVith this arrange ment the necessary force for applying pressure to the grease is obtained within very narrow compass, the spring being held in a cavity of the follower itself and coiled like a clock spring. The grease cup can therefore be made small and compact. Furthermore, as shown, the spiral ribs and grooves are of steep pitch and turn less than one full revolution in the full length of the grease cup. Therefore the spring has only a relatively small expansion and can be contained in a small chamber or recess. The spring is never completely expanded or contracted so that there is no material variation in its tension from the beginning to the end of the piston stroke, and any decrease in pressure by the spring from the beginning to the end of the piston stroke is compensated for by the friction of the decreasing quantity of grease, so that the piston produces a substantially uniform effect with a uniform discharge of the grease from the beginning to the end of the piston stroke.

In the form of device shown in Fig. 1 a portion of the stem 8, marked 16, is filed off at an incline on its four faces so as to be of smaller size than the remainder of said shaft. This produces a transverse shoulder or shoulders 17, on the stem, and when the stem 8 is in the upper position, shown in Fig. 1, the spring 11 turns it so that the shoulders 11 are engaged over the edges of the opening through which the stem passes to lock or hold the piston in its upper position to enable the casing to be filled with grease. When the casing is filled the stem is turned backwardly to allow the full-sized portion of the stem 8 to enter its opening.

In Fig. 1 the threaded nipple 3 is a separate part screwed into the body of the casing 1. It is provided with a recess to receive a corrugated lock washer 19, shown in detail in Figs. 3 and 4, and whose opening has one straight edge 20 engaging a flat portion of the nipple 3 so as to prevent rotation be tween the nipple and washer. Said washer has short radial slits 21 at intervals around its periphery, and portions of the metal at the edges of said slits are bent downwardly so as to form teeth or prongs 22. These teeth or prongs bite into the surface of the bearing member and serve to lock the nipple thereto. The nipple and lock washer are attached to the bearing first and the casing screwed upon the nipple, so that the entire device is firmly attached to the bearing and is not liable to escape therefrom. The washer 19 may be permanently attached to the casing by peening over the metal, as at 19", if desired.

In Fig. 5 the threaded nipple 3 is a part of the body of the shell or casing 1, while the outer end of said casing is closed by an end head or cap 23 screwed thereon and provided with a central square or non-circular opening for the stem of the piston or follower 5. The latter is provided, as shown in Fig. 6, with outwardly extending spiral ribs 24 which work in spiral grooves 25 in the in ner wall of the casing 2, producing the same effect as the ribs and grooves in Fig. 1. In the outer position of the piston, as shown in Fig. 5, the ribs 24: thereon enter enlarged cavities or seats 26 in the inner surface of the wall of the cap 23 and engage straight longitudinal shoulders 27 thereof. Consequently by fully withdrawing the piston to the position shown. in Fig. 5 the cap may be removed bodily with the piston locked and held against rotation therein, to enable the cup to be filled with grease. The cap is then restored and by pressing down upon the stem 8 the ribs 24 are again entered in the grooves 25 of the shell and travel downwardly therein. In this latter position the cap can not be removed from the grease cup because rotation of said cap will merely wind up the spring and will not move the piston or follower backwardly in the casing. In other words, when the cap is in position on the casing the spring always has a tendency to screw the cap more tightly upon the casing, thereby preventing its accidental loss.

Fig. 10 illustrates another embodiment of the invention in which the shell or casing is provided with spiral grooves 28 and straight longitudinal grooves 29. In the casing is located the piston or follower 5 provided with outwardly extending ribs 30 working in the spiral grooves 28. Said piston is connected by the coiled spring 11* to a central stem 31 on a member 32 which is provided with outwardly extending ribs 33 traveling in the longitudinal grooves 29.

With this arrangement the piston and operating member 32 are pushed back to the position shown in Fig. 10, and the cup is filled with grease and attached to the hearing. Member 32 is non-rotatable but can move longitudinally in the casing. It therefore serves as a fulcrum point for the spring which tends to rotate the piston 5, but the latter can not rotate without also moving longitudinally in the casing. Consequently its ribs travel along the spiral grooves 28 and the combined movement of the piston and member 32 forces the grease into the bearing. In this form of the invention the upper ends'of the spiral slots 28 are enlarged with straight or longitudinal edges, as in Fig. 8, so that when the piston is pushed fully back it is locked and will neither turn nor slide, but can be started upon its inward movement by pressing down upon the button 34, having a head lying outside of the casing and which enables the piston to be engaged with the spiral portions of the grooves 28.

In Fig. 10 the spiral spring is carried in a recess between members 5 and 32. In Fig. 12 the same two members are utilized, but the non-rotatable member 32 is merely a Hat disk with a-oentral member 36 to receive one end of the spring, while the rotatable member 5 is cup-shaped and the spring 11 is contained in the cavity thereof. In all forms of the invention the casing may be suitably arranged for convenience in attaching it to the bearing, as by having all or a. portion of its surface knurled, as at 37, Fig. 13, or if desired may be of hexag onal or other square cross section, as at 38.

This grease cup is automatic in action and when filled and applied to the bearing delivers a constant supply of grease at uniform rate thereto. It is of simple construc tion and can be made in small sizes and is also not liable to get out of order in use.

What I claim is:

1. An automatic grease cup, comprising a casing for attachment to the part to be lu bricated, a cup-shaped follower rotatable therein, means contained within said follower for rotating the same, and means whereby the rotative movement of said follower produces longitudinal movement of the same in the casing.

2. Anautomatic grease cup, comprising a casing for attachment to the part to be lubricated, a cup-shaped follower rotatable therein, a coiled spring contained within said follower for rotating the same, and

means whereby the rotative movement of said follower produces longitudinal movement of the same in the casing.

3. An automatic grease cup, comprising a casing for attachment to the part to be lubricated, a member rotatable and longitudinally movable in said casing, a member having longitudinal sliding movement in said casing, and a spring acting on both of said members for moving the same longitudinally in said casing.

l. An automatic grease cup, comprising a casing for attachment to the part to be lubricated, a member rotatable and longitudinally movable in said casing, a member having longitudinal sliding movement in said casing, and a spring connected to both of said members and intended to relatively rotate the same and arranged to simultaneously move the same in said casing.

5. An automatic grease cup, comprising a casing for attachment to the part to be 111- bricated, a follower rotatable therein, a member having longitudinal sliding movement in said casing, a spring connecting said member and follower for rotating the latter, and means whereby the rotation of said follower produces longitudinal movement of the same in the casing.

6. An automatic grease cup, comprising a casing for attachment to the part to be lubricated, a follower rotatable therein, a member having longitudinal sliding movement in said casing, a spring connecting said member and follower for rotating the latter, and interlocking connections between said follower and casing for producing longitudinal movement of the follower in the casing when rotated therein.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand.

JS F. CRAVEN. Witnesses:

ELBERT L. HYDE, GLENN I-l. Lnimsonn.

Games of this patent may he obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

